Rakushisha

The Hermitage of Basho's Disciple Kyorai

Rakushisha (落柿舎) is a thatched hermitage of the late Edo period in Saga Ogurayama Hinomyojincho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on April 25, 2014 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building, thatched and partly tiled, with a building area of 58 square metres; registration number 26-0451.

From Kyorai's Hermitage

According to Kyoto City, Rakushisha goes back to the hermitage of Mukai Kyorai, a haikai poet of the Genroku era counted among the ten great disciples of Matsuo Basho; it existed by 1687. Basho came here three times, first in 1689, and late in life wrote his Saga Diary here. The name, "hut of fallen persimmons", is said to come from a night when the wind brought down nearly all the fruit of the garden's persimmon trees (Kyoto City).

After Kyorai's death it fell into ruin and was pulled down; the present Rakushisha was revived in 1770 by a relative of Kyorai, on a spot with fine old persimmon trees in the grounds of Kogenji, a sub-temple of Tenryuji (Kyoto City).

The building faces south in the middle of its plot below Mount Ogura in Saga, under a hipped thatched roof. A narrow earth-floored area runs along the east end; the raised floor has a four-and-a-half-mat main room at the south-west with an alcove on the west wall, and rooms of two and three mats (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency calls it a gentle thatched hut in the sukiya manner that is a key part of the charm of Saga, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. Kyoto City has also listed it among the buildings and gardens that colour Kyoto.

What to Look For

Look for the thatched hipped roof and the straw hat and raincoat hung at the entrance in memory of Basho the traveller (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Kyoto City). The garden holds a stone carved with a poem by Kyorai.

Visiting

It is owned by the Rakushisha Preservation Society (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on hours or fees was found.